The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office confirmed yesterday that prosecutors have received the final verdict in former DPP lawmaker Chou Po-lun (
"Prosecutor Hou Ming-huang (侯名皇) received the verdict from the Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon and has immediately sent out the summons to Chou and Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源), who is another guilty party in the case and a former Taipei City councilor," said Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達), spokesman for the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office.
"According to the summons, they are supposed to report to us at 10am on Feb. 25 to begin serving their sentences," Chen said.
Chen said that if the two men do not respond to the summons, prosecutors would immediately authorize arrest warrants and police officers would arrest the men on the spot wherever they were found. If the two men go on the run, prosecutors will put them on the wanted list.
Chou and Chen Chun-yuan were involved in the Ronghsing Park development scandal, which surfaced in 1988 when then-Taipei City councilor Chen Sheng-hung (
These former city councilors and other city government officials took part in the influence-peddling scheme that sought, unsuccessfully, to develop part of the park near the Sungshan Airport and turn it into a commercial-residential zone.
Chou and Chen Chu-yuan were not the only guilty parties in the case but most of other defendants who were found guilty have almost finished their terms.
Chou, 47, who has served as a legislator representing Taipei County since 1993, was accused of taking NT$16 million from the company.
On Aug. 3, 2001, the Taiwan High Court sentenced Chou to six years in prison. Although he said he would give up filing appeals, Chou lodged another appeal with the Supreme Court on Aug. 25 of the same year.
In addition, the high court's verdict also suspended Chou's civil liberties for four years, which will not go into effect until after he serves his jail term. The move will strips Chou of the right to vote and to run for office.
Chen Chun-yuan was sentenced to five years in jail in addition to having his civil rights revoked for three years and four months.
The Supreme Court upheld the Taiwan High Court's decision on Jan. 29 this year, making the verdict final.
In the meantime, Chou resigned as a lawmaker on Jan. 30. On the same day, the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office banned him from leaving the country.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over